PROFILES
Beyond
Maria Clara N
o matter where I am in the world, whenever I introduce myself as a Filipino, I usually get a reply like, “The only Filipinos I know are the ones working in my friend’s house and the ones working on the cruise ships I took”. This stereotype has been largely created thanks to the programs of the Philippine government. From Ferdinand Marcos’ Overseas Contract Workers (OCWs) to Gloria Arroyo’s Supermaids, the Philippines has become the largest labor exporter in the world. According to the data from the World
Bank, OFW remittance amounts to an average 10% of the Philippine Gross Domestic Product (GDP), highest in 2005 at 12.7%. Our people have become our biggest export product. But Filipino migrant women have proven that domestic helpers are only job titles and should not be limiting. They might be househelpers on one hand, and businesswomen on the other, carers by weekdays and photographers in the weekends, cleaners by day, students by night. I interviewed three modern Filipinas in Germany, whose works embody Filipino strength and talent, inspiring others to dream bigger.
By Justine Grace Abrugena
Trailblazing Filipina expats in Germany challenging the stereotypes of Filipino immigrants.
#13 2021 | THE FILIPINO
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